Nougat 17

So my friend who writes Paula’s Praise Points, a weekday devotional, asked me about Elijah’s story. She had some interesting views with regard to Elijah being afraid. Consider today’s Holy Nougat, and see if the reflection resonates with you.

“Frightened, he got up and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, he left his servant there.” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19:3‬ ‭TLV‬‬

So our question is, Why was Elijah so afraid?

This is not just any ole Bible hero now; we’re talking about The Elijah: Man of God; Prophet, Seer; Miracle Worker, Healer and ‘Judge’. During Elijah‘s ministry we hear of the ‘school’ of the prophets, who seemed to have been under his care. Although they might have been established after this Jezebel threat, we may recall that Elijah’s anointing was powerful enough for him to speak and nature obeyed. Remember; he prophesied and the heavens provided no rain for 3 1/2 years. And shortly before Jezebel’s threat, he prophesied the opposite – and the rains came! Yet on Jezebel’s threat; Elijah devolved into serious mind-numbing fear.

I suspect that Elijah’s fear was rooted in his shock that after such an overwhelming defeat Jezebel would issue a hit on his life. And he KNEW that Jezebel was deadly serious. This was a woman who had no compunction about murder. In killing the prophets of Baal, performing greater signs; and calling forth climate change by his God’s grace, Elijah had humiliated Jezebel. She had had YHWH’s prophets killed before simply to establish her dominance l. He had NO doubt she would have him killed for humiliating her so publicly!

Now let’s understand something here – there’s Fear and there’s Fear of the Lord. Fears can literally cripple us; scientists call them ‘phobias’. A phobia can be seen as irrational fear that triggers/generates psychological distress. Based on my laywoman’s definition, we might safely say Elijah suffered from acute ‘Jeze-phobia’. It resulted in acute symptoms – running from the problem, avoiding people, and worrying about his life. He was unable to do his work. In fact, Jeze-phobia resulted in a strong desire to quit his job mid-term; despite the resounding victory he had just experienced .

Been there?

And he forgot the Fear of the Lord.

The Teacher says the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). And this Fear is not so much about quaking feet and psychological challenges as it is about remembering Who God is – God’s character and identity – and showing the respect and honor due to God. This is actually what we see in the First Commandment (Exodus 20:2-5). Of course, when we recognize Who God is – Creator, Protector, Sustainer; I AM, Alpha & Omega – I think we are hard-pressed to not be awestruck. But I also believe that sometimes the devil we see in the natural can lead us to forget the Majesty of Our God, Who is ALWAYS WITH US. Not sometimes; but for all time.

In a Bible study last night on the book of Hebrews, one participant noted that usually our mountain-top experiences come right before a season of testing. I agree with Joel; and I suspect that was the other piece of the picture in Elijah’s story. He didn’t realize that other YHWH-fearing priests existed (remember he was living by a dried up brook for years, then taken in by a widow); and so should be forgiven for that. He probably thought that Jezebel had killed them ALL!

But God!

So; yes. Elijah’s greatest moment of victory did precede his greatest moment of defeat when he allowed Jeze-phobia to overwhelm his Fear of YHWH. But God’s grace sustained him. And that’s the Good News for us when we are overwhelmed by Fear – God’s Love is Perfect and Perfect Love casts out ALL FEAR! We are able to overcome when we yield to the Fear of the Lord and thus experience God’s Love. May we each experience the reverential Fear of YHWH today.

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May all we seek be found in Christ